[Web4lib] Interesting Web/Library 2.0 data (wasparticpationSkillsfor Library 2.0 Leaders)

[Walker, David]

>> Why are undergraduate students the 

>> core audience?

 

Well, not only are undergraduate students the largest group of users at virtually all academic libraries, but at the large number of academic libraries that are not at doctoral degree granting institutions, they are effectively the sole user group.

 

>> they also conduct the least amount of 

>> intensive research, are less enthusiastic 

>> about research, and are less connected 

>> to the academic community.

 

I can't really appreciate this argument, Mark.  I think you are, in essence, shifting the blame onto our users.

 

Sure, undergraduate students are not wildly enthusiastic about using the library.  But that was true even before the advent of the web, when the library was the only way you could find information.  Have we lost "market share," as you put it, because undergraduate students today are simply less "excited" about using the library than those of a decade ago?  Have undergraduates ever been excited about using the library?

 

Our users are not the problem.  The problem lies in our systems.  Students increasingly don't want to use the library because, frankly, our systems are painfully (and in many ways unnecessarily) difficult to use.  The only difference today compared to ten years ago is that our users now expect all information resources, including the library, to be easy to use.

 

If we make our systems easier to use, usage will in fact go up.  For example, five years ago when we implemented our link resolver here at Cal State San Marcos and hooked it up to our interlibrary loan system so that it auto-filled the forms, ILL usage went up 300%.  We had to hire an extra person just to keep up with the demand!  But undergraduate students at a second-tier non-research university couldn't care less, right?

 

There are many things academic libraries can do right now to improve and integrate our systems.  It won't be simple or easy.  But if we don't make that our top priority, not only are we not serving our students well, but we are also not serving our faculty well, since they have to deal with students who are not always or often using sufficiently scholarly resource in their research assignments.  We also do a disservice to our own reference and instruction librarians, since we are forcing them to devote a large percentage of their all-too-brief interactions with students to explain confusing interfaces rather than deeper issues about research.  Everyone stands to benefit from this work, even advanced researchers.

 

The ultimate goal of any academic library is not to get students excited about the library, or even to get repeat customers.  The people who pay the bills are the university administrators who allocate funds to the library to support the research and educational missions of the university.  That is our mission and responsibility.  We cannot change that simply because it's difficult.

 

--Dave

 
-------------------
David Walker
Library Web Services Manager
California State University
http://xerxes.calstate.edu

________________________________

From: Mark Costa [mailto:markrcosta at gmail.com]
Sent: Sat 5/5/2007 2:37 PM
To: Ross Singer
Cc: Walker, David; web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Interesting Web/Library 2.0 data (wasparticpationSkillsfor Library 2.0 Leaders)





	"Why are undergraduate students the core audience?" -- Mark Costa
	
	At majority of academic institutions they vastly outnumber any other
	community, from anywhere from 3:1 to 20:1.  The fact that they are the
	/least connected/ to the library doesn't sound to me that we should
	then focus on those that appreciate what we offer (grad students,
	although increasingly less and less, since they were just recently
	disaffected undergrads, faculty and researchers), but it points out
	how poorly we are serving our community.  Focusing on improving the 
	experience for undergraduates doesn't have to mean neglecting the more
	advanced users.  What it can mean is an overall improvement in service
	to /everybody/ by offering a more unified and logical and open
	interface for everyone.
	
	I feel there's a bit of a 'let them eat cake!' attitude about
	tailoring only to the needs of the research community.
	
	-Ross.
	


I know this is a bit off topic, but I am a bit more of a "serve the people that pay your bills" kind of guy. I would also like to add that much of the work an undergraduate does is to analyze information given to them, versus going out and identifying resources and then analyzing it, which is what a graduate student does. For libraries, we can meet our undergraduates needs by developing the library as a place. Our web presence should be focused on the people who would most benefit from a well developed, robust tool. There are many technologies out there now, and on the horizon, that can facilitate higher level research. By doing that, we can also pick up the few undergraduates that are engaged in advanced research. 

Right now many libraries are engaged in a dumbing down process, trying to catch volume by appealing to people who can really care less about our service, versus focusing on a smaller group of people who are dedicated lifelong researchers. Do you focus on the customer who passes through, or do you focus on developing a return patron base? We've been chasing undergraduates for the past 10 years, and all we have done is managed to lose market share. Perhaps we need to rethink our strategy. 

-- 
Mark R. Costa, MLS

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." 
--- George Bernard Shaw